A novel surfactant-encapsulated Sm-containing polyoxometalate was synthesized. This hybrid polyoxometalate (DDTA)(9)Sm-W10O36 center dot xH(2)O contains a hydrophobic dodecyltrimethyl ammonium shell and an encapsulated hydrophilic polyoxometalate core. (DDTA)(9)SmW10O36 center dot xH(2)O was synthesized by extraction procedure using chloroform as the solvent and characterized by FT-IR, UV/Vis, H-1-NMR, and XPS. (DDTA)(9)SmW10O36 center dot xH(2)O readily dissolves in organic solvents such as chloroform and ethanol, from which indicates that Sm-POM has been successfully encapsulated by dodecyltrimethylammonium cations. The hybrid compound shows photoluminescence activity in the orange region of the visible light. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.